National Preparedness Survey Released

Date: 2011-09-10

10 Years Later: Insights From Public Service And Public Safety Professionals

A group of national public safety associations has released the results of a national survey completed by more than 1,000 first responders, emergency managers, public health officials and others on the front lines of emergency preparedness and response. The news release is available here.

Key survey findings:

While 71% of respondents believe the U.S. is better prepared to deal with a terrorist attack today than we were in the days before 9/11, two-thirds of them also feel that all levels of government (federal, state and local) are still not giving enough attention to preparing for and responding to the next national disaster

88% of respondents believe that funds are allocated according to what’s best for politicians, not what’s best for emergency preparedness

58% of respondents have seen their budgets decrease over the last two years

Additional key findings reveal their views on what specifically has and has not improved on issues like collaboration, training and funding, as well as what challenges they are facing that affect their ability to prepare for and respond to a major emergency.

The survey, conducted nearly 10 years after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, aims to examine the progress we have made in our ability to respond to a major terrorist attack or natural disaster, as well as identify what we have not yet adequately addressed.

The survey authors, including the American Public Health Association (APHA), the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA), the U.S. Council of the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM -USA), the Comprehensive Emergency Management Research Foundation (CEMRF) and the FBI National Academy Associates (FBI NAA), asked public service and public safety professionals for their views on critical questions in order to get a realistic assessment from the people in the best position to know.

The full report, “10 Years Later: A National Survey of Public Service & Public Safety Professionals,” can be found here .